Hidan laughed maniacally while wielding the Triple-Bladed Scythe, continuously reaping lives. With each relentless attack, he discovered that this group of people was different from the ones he had encountered before.
Regardless of strength, speed, or recovery, they surpassed by a considerable margin the ones he had slaughtered previously. However, even with their enhanced abilities, they were only strong to a limited extent.
This realization only fueled Hidan's excitement. It seemed that the sacrifices today might yield even greater rewards. Soon, the vampires in the village were slaughtered by Hidan, and even those trying to escape were killed.
Watching the pile of bodies in front of him, Hidan displayed a satisfied expression. He then used blood to draw a circle on the ground, with a triangle inside it. Black and white patterns, reminiscent of the sacrificial curse, appeared on his body.
The sacrificial ritual began swiftly, with over a hundred vampires sacrificed to the evil god (himself).
The feedback he received exceeded his expectations, making him even more powerful. The sacrifice of just a hundred surpassed the power gained from the previous more than three thousand.
Feeling his strengthened body and the surplus chakra, Hidan lay down in the symbol he drew and fell asleep.
...
The moon set and the sun rose.
When the sun rose, Hidan slowly opened his eyes. However, the scene before him left him stunned – the bodies he had piled together the previous night had disappeared, leaving only ashes on the ground.
Lying on the ground, Hidan furrowed his brows. He got up like a jumping carp, picked up the Triple-Bladed Scythe beside him, and looked puzzledly at the empty square.
"Could it be that someone stole it?"
"Impossible. If someone came, I wouldn't have failed to notice."
Unbeknownst to Hidan, the group of people he slaughtered last night were the last vampires of the African clan. These non-evolved vampires all had the characteristic of fearing sunlight.
When the sun rose, their bodies melted away like ice and snow under the sunlight, leaving only ashes on the ground. He then gently moved it with his scythe, revealing tiny blood cores buried inside.
Looking at the over a hundred blood cores, Hidan didn't know what it was, but he felt that this thing should have some value. He collected them and put them into his pocket.
...
On the other side-
Barton and others, following the route on the map, flew for a while and then used vehicles to track and investigate along the way. Soon, they arrived at this vampire village.
Just as Hidan finished collecting the blood cores, he heard the commotion outside the village and a hint of joy appeared on his face.
"Could there be some people in this village that escaped my notice?"
Six off-road vehicles arrived at the village entrance. The SHIELD agents, observing the eerily quiet village without a single person, reported, "Captain, there's no sign of anyone in this village. Should we enter and investigate?"
"Go in and take a look!"
Barton gave a command, and the cars drove into the village.
As the vehicles moved along the village roads, they observed that all the houses had their doors open.
There were some bullet casings on the ground, along with traces of explosions like grenades. The air still carried the scent of gunpowder, but there was no sign of bodies or bloodstains.
The SHIELD agents in the cars, witnessing this eerie scene, became alert, preparing for a potential attack. The first vehicle entering the village relayed the scene they saw back to the others.
"We've found something unusual, Captain."
"Captain, we're in the middle of the village square and spotted a bizarrely dressed man with his upper body exposed, wielding a huge scythe."
It was the agent in the lead car who saw Hidan sitting in the square.
The moment SHIELD agents noticed Hidan, and Hidan also noticed them.
Looking at the cars that appeared in front of him, Hidan furrowed his brows. He realized that the people in the cars were not his targets, not the members of the group of People he wanted to purify.
As the images returned from the front car, Barton, at a glance, saw the forehead protector around Hidan's neck. He was surprised and said:
"Ninja?"
Looking at the markings on the forehead protector that were different from what he knew from Konoha and Suna, Barton was even more puzzled. He questioned, "A forehead protector from a village other than Konoha and Suna?"
Then, he instructed the SHIELD agent driving the vehicle, "Go to the front."
Barton's vehicle, originally in the middle of the convoy, moved to the front as he ordered and stopped in the village square.
As soon as the car stopped, Barton opened the door and jumped down.
Looking at the man in front of him, Barton squinted his eyes.
Hidan, dressed in a black-and-red robe with an exposed upper body, wore a forehead protector with markings different from Konoha and Suna. There was also a strange and huge scythe in his hand.
Barton speculated that the man in front of him was likely a ninja from a hidden village, but he wasn't sure which village specifically.
Approaching Hidan, Barton tried to present himself in a friendly manner, with a smile on his face:
"Hello, sir. I am Agent Barton from SHIELD."
"May I ask if you are a ninja?"
Initially not planning to pay attention to these people, Hidan, upon hearing Barton's words, asked with curiosity, "You actually know about ninjas?"
Throughout his journey, apart from the people he sacrificed, even the people from the Eastern countries he had communicated with didn't mention the term "ninja."
Could it be that these people knew Lord Charles, or had contact with other ninjas brought into this world by Lord Charles?
Although Hidan hadn't been to the base and hadn't encountered other ninjas, he could communicate with the summoning beasts.
He had used summoning beasts to communicate with Lord Charles and report the purification tasks. He was aware that, besides himself, there were some other ninjas brought to this world by Lord Charles as well.
With Hidan's response, Barton could confirm that the man in front of him was indeed a ninja.
Barton maintained a smile on his face and said in a gentle tone, "Yes, sir, you are correct."
"We, SHIELD, have a cooperative relationship with Konoha and Suna. We also know some individuals from both sides."
"Mr. ninja-."
"What do we call you?"
Glancing at the man in front of him, Hidan said indifferently, "Hidan!"
Hidan, who was sitting moments ago, stood up, hoisting the large scythe over his shoulder.
However, Hidan had no intention of wasting any more time with these people. He had a great mission to accomplish.
As Hidan stood up, it made the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents nervous, many of them jumped out of the cars.
Hearing the commotion behind him, Barton quickly made a quiet gesture to his agents.
Although Barton wasn't sure which ninja village this ninja in front of him belonged to, the fact remained that he was an adult ninja.
According to internal S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence, even a recently graduated genin, a child could defeat them singlehandedly, let alone this one.
While controlling his agents to remain calm, Barton couldn't help feeling somewhat relieved.
Despite the lack of useful information about the evil sacrifices and the failure to capture anyone, if they could obtain some intelligence from other ninja villages, this mission wouldn't be a total loss.
"I wonder if there's anything Mr. Hidan needs to handle after emerging from the ninja village this time, and if there's anything we can help with? We at S.H.I.E.L.D. are always ready to assist, and we consider all the ninja from the villages that have emerged as our friends."
At this point, apart from the driver responsible for operating the vehicles, most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had already disembarked. Hidan's initially indifferent expression now revealed a subtle trace of disdain.
Hidan pointed towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents behind Barton and said, "Since you're so enthusiastic, leave these three behind."
As Hidan's words fell, the three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents behind Barton were furious.
In an instant, the three of them pulled out their handguns and aimed them at Hidan. This action immediately triggered a chain reaction, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had disembarked from the cars all drew their weapons.
Barton immediately looked back at the three agents Hidan had indicated. His expression became unpleasant, and his gaze towards Hidan became more cautious.
Barton explained, "They're not what you think."
However, Hidan didn't care whether they were useful sacrifices or not.
"Swoosh!"
Ignoring Hawkeye, Hidan disappeared in a flash in front of him. Then, he swung the chained scythe, stringing together the three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into a cluster.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were completely caught off guard, stunned by the sudden turn of events.
Looking at the iron chains in front of their chests, the three agents belatedly began to howl in pain.
"Ah~"
Hearing the cries of their teammates, other agents aimed their guns at Hidan. However, Hidan paid no attention to these weapons and leisurely dragged the three agents forward.
Barton, who had been communicating with Hidan, did not retreat. Instead, he looked at the sacrificial pattern revealed on the square.
Recalling the murders, Barton suddenly understood that all these heinous acts were committed by Hidan.
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent whispered to Barton, "Should we attack?"
Without any hesitation, Barton immediately said, "Don't attack!"
Barton knew the strength of himself and his team and, more importantly, the terror of ninjas like Hidan. Directly attacking would be equivalent to suicide, and it was better to plan carefully.
As for the three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Barton could do nothing.
At this moment, Hidan had already dragged the three from the other agents, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had aimed at Hidan ignored Barton's command and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
With a gunshot, as if lighting a fuse, all the agents aiming at Hidan pulled their triggers.
"Rat-tat-tat..."
Bullets shot out of the guns and headed towards Hidan, who was slowly walking. Only Barton and the agent who had asked the question earlier didn't pull their triggers.
Countless bullets passed through Hidan's body and shot towards the ground in the distance.
Hidan directly disappeared from in front of the agents, moving so fast that only a lingering afterimage remained in his original position.
Hidan appeared next to Barton, and the agents who were just behind him now found themselves in front. Hidan stomped on the ground, and countless grains of sand flew out, killing the agent who had attacked him.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!"
After a scream, the agents who had attacked Hidan fell to the ground, lifeless.
Seeing this scene, Hawkeye's face showed agony. All of his teammates were wiped out, and he was going to die too.
Hidan patted Barton on the shoulder, saying nonchalantly, "I cleaned up these disobedient guys for you. No need to thank me."
After speaking, Hidan looked up to the sky and started laughing, "Ha, ha, ha!"
Ignoring Barton's reaction, Hidan continued dragging the three strung-up agents forward. As for the fallen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the ground, he paid them no attention.
If it weren't for the evil god instructing him to purify these people, Hidan wouldn't bother with a sacrifice ceremony for them.
Hidan walked forward step by step, while Barton and the nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were alive were trembling with anger, their hands tightly clenched.
After walking for a while, Hidan turned his head, pointing to the horizontal bar on his forehead protector, and said, "When you see someone like us with a horizontal bar on our forehead protectors, run as far as you can. Today, I'm in a good mood, so consider yourself lucky!"
"Fortunately, you're not my target, Barton kid."
"Ha, ha, ha!"
After speaking, Hidan continued forward with the three agent. He intended to bring these three guys to the next sacrificial location and offer them to the evil god.
Watching Hidan's departing figure, Barton's tightly clenched fists. At this moment, Barton understood why Director Nick Fury was so vigilant towards these superhumans, wanting to keep everything under control.